Founded by the first Zaydi imam al-Hadi Yahya after 897, Sa'da is the birthplace and permanent foothold of the Zaydis of Yemen; its mosque of al-Hadi holds the tombs of al-Hadi and his successors.
The imam Abd Allah ibn Hamza has made it his headquarters since Tughtekin took Sana'a in 1189.
Who holds it
- Name
- al-Mansur Abd Allah ibn Hamza
- Title
- Imam
- Since
- 1189 (headquarters)
- Confidence
- high
Lord in 1200
The imam al-Mansur Abd Allah ibn Hamza.
How things stand that morning
Zaydi capital.
Charter
None known: Yemeni towns had no charters; the ruler's governor (wali), the judge (qadi) and the market inspector (muhtasib) answered to the sultan or the imam.
Council
No sworn council; the notables, the qadi and the headman speak for the town. Names for 1199-1200 not pinned.
Communities
Zaydi scholars and sayyids; Khawlan tribesmen; Jews (forcibly converted only in the Ayyubid lands, not here).
Fairs and markets
Daily or weekly markets; no fair dates recorded for 1200.
Militia
Not recorded for 1199-1200.
Walls and castle
Mud-brick town walls with towers and gates (the present circuit, about 3 km, is of uncertain date).
Trade and crafts
Trading hub for goods going north; iron working (a great slag heap stands in the town); leather.
Where the sources disagree
- Whether the Jews of Sa'da escaped al-Mu'izz's forced conversion is an inference from the Geniza letter's 'Jews of the mountains', which may mean only the Ayyubid highlands.
Evidence: English Wikipedia; Diyanet encyclopedia for 1189.
Primary sources for Zaydi imamate
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- History of Yemen, Umara al-Yamani (Umara ibn Ali al-Hakami) (1168 to 1174, at Cairo). The history of Yemen's dynasties to the eve of the Ayyubid conquest: the Ziyadids and Najahids of Zabid, the Sulayhids and their queen Arwa, the Zuray'ids of Aden, the Hamdanid sultans of San'a and the Mahdids of Zabid, with Umara's own career as a Yemeni envoy to Fatimid Cairo. Read online
- History of the Observant Traveller (A Traveller in Thirteenth-Century Arabia), Ibn al-Mujawir (Jamal al-Din Yusuf ibn Ya'qub) (about 1226 to 1232). A merchant-traveller's description of western and southern Arabia a generation after 1200: Mecca and the Hijaz ports, the Red Sea crossing, Zabid and the Tihama, Aden with its customs and tariffs, the Hadramawt coast, Dhofar and Oman, Socotra, and the opposite African shore at Zeila and the Dahlak islands. Read online
Sources and studies
- 'Saada', English Wikipedia
- 'Mansur-billah, Abdullah b. Hamza', TDV Islam Ansiklopedisi (Turkish Diyanet encyclopedia), via kureansiklopedi.com
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.